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Welcome to Life in Umbria

This guide has been written after many years experience of living and working in the Upper Tiber Valley of Umbria. This region has a distinctive cultural and social character. The Tiber River runs through the entire length of our valley - about 50 kilometers, and provides the valley with great fertility - hence, the title, "The Green Heart of Italy". Umbria has long been recognized for it's lush green landscapes and medieval hilltop villages but our region is also known for its agriculture. Tobacco is the largest crop but, driving through the countryside, you will also see fields of sunflowers and rolling hills much like those in Tuscany.

Our website focuses on seven towns (or villages) in the region: The hill towns of Citerna, Montone, Monte Santa Maria Tiberina, and Pietralunga and the valley towns of Città di Castello, Umbertide, San Giustino and smaller villages such as Trestina, Calzolaro and San Secondo. Whether it's in the sleepy hamlets with magnificent views or bustling towns full of energy, what you will experience in our region is rural Italian culture - the REAL Italy - that so many visitors miss when they limit themselves to Florence, Rome or Venice.

For those of you who are thinking about moving to Italy or just planning a visit, within this site, you will find helpful information about customs, culture, climate, arts, sports, accommodations, restaurants, Umbria wedding locations, buying property in Umbria, food and wine, and shopping tips. Plus, you'll read some very personal and heart-warming stories about the region and its people. These pages contain tales belonging to four thousand years of Umbrians. Come experience "la vita dolce" in Umbria - The Upper Tiber Valley.

Every effort has been made to include accurate and up-to-date information, but services occasionally change. As you peruse these pages, please feel free to comment and ask questions. We welcome your input and hope you will visit our site again. We welcome your questions, comments and suggestions, too. Have fun exploring our site and welcome to Life in Umbria! Benvenuto!

From our...SPECIFICATION and ESTIMATE   SUMMER 2008

"Bring grace to the landscape, not disgrace", (Frank Lloyd Wright)

Currently the cost of restoring a structure in Umbria is some € 1900 per square meter, this cost relates only to the structure of the house, the living area, the space contained within, and including, the roof and walls. This price is for the area within a circle based on Cortona & Anghiari, in Tuscany, Toscana, and Gubbi & Perugia in Umbria, The Upper Tiber Valley.

We are happy to provide a full and complete survey of any property with an analysis of current costs with regard to; the purchase, legal, and local and national authority costs, and taxes, the cost of producing working drawings with full specifications of works to be undertaken in order to comply with all existing rules and regulations, in order to bring the property up to Northern European standards, as outlined in our Specification and Estimate, plus the probable costs of obtaining any and all permissions from local authorities necessary for the reconstruction of the chosen property, villa, dwelling, house or building, plus a full and detailed specification and costing of all necessary works, to include landscaping, car parking, swimming pools etc etc, as required.

After the purchase is complete, some3 to 6 months, we need to make contact with a competent local geometra, surveyor, who can oversee the work of making the applications to the various local authorities for the works to be undertaken on your house and grounds. He may well live or work in the Upper Tiber Valley, amongst the some 10 or 12 medieval towns in our area, Citerna, Monterchi, Lippiano, Citta' di Castello, Sansepolcro, San Secondo, Umbertide, Trestina, Pietralunga, Pierantonio, Gubbio, etc

The initial contacts are with the Municipio, the Town Hall, the Comune, the local authority; the Corpo Forestale dello Stato, the Forestry Commission; the Communita Montana, the regional authority; and sometimes the Bene Ambientale, the Italian Heritage authority for important architectural structures, or those nearby; all need to be made by formal application on "legal" paper and accompanied by "marca di bollo", (a fiscal tax stamp), plans, drawings, photographs and descriptions of the proposed work, plus a whole host of other documentation. Including the presentation of the necessary papers, tax, social security, health, insurance, pensions etc., to ensure that the builders are "legal". This is called a "DURC". The house, its well and its swimming pool all need geological surveys in order to satisfy the various legal requirements. This work will take a further 6 to 12 months. These documents are needed for all barns, houses, villas, houses, homes, buildings, properties in Umbria, in our area, the Upper Tiber Valley.

We need to start the discussions with these authorities in the first instance by making an application for cleaning, clearing, levelling, terracing and fencing the land, planting trees as required and building or rebuilding any small retaining walls. We make an overall application and you, with us, can decide which of these works you need doing, and when. The permissions can take up to six months to arrive, have to be paid for, and are valid for three years. Most of July and all of August are "dead" months. We can usually start work within a month of this date. Property in Italy, Italian property, villas in Umbria, my house in Umbria, properties for sale or houses to rent will all need official permits, permissions and documentation.

Codice Fiscale, bank accounts, insurance, buildings/ barn conversions, annexes, enlargements, extensions, changes to plans, electricity, gas, water, telephone, well, gardens and swimming pool all need separate applications and in some cases, permissions. These requests should be entered as soon as possible because they can take up to a six months to arrive, can often be of great complexity, require endless phone calls, visits, emails and official taxation stamps, dozens of copies of documents and various visits to site or offices.

This is an extract from our Estimate, further information next month, or when you arrive to view our properties in Umbria.

© 2007 - John Tunstill info@lifeinumbria.com